Cullavagga, Khandaka 9, Chapter 4

1. Now the venerable Upāli^[1] went up to the Blessed One, and bowed down before him, and took his seat on one side. And when he was so seated, the venerable Upāli said to the Blessed One:

'When a Bhikkhu, Lord, intends to take upon himself the conduct (of any matter that has to be decided)^[2], under what conditions should he take the conduct thereof upon himself^[3]?'

'A Bhikkhu, Upāli, who intends to take upon himself the conduct of any matter, should take such conduct upon himself under five conditions.

'(In the first place.) A Bhikkhu, Upāli, who intends to take the conduct of any matter upon himself, should thus consider: "The conduct of this matter which I intend to take upon myself; is it now the right time for the taking charge of the conduct thereof, or is it not?" If that Bhikkhu, Upāli, so considering, come to the conclusion that it is not the right time, he should not, Upāli, take charge of it.

'(Secondly.) If that Bhikkhu, Upāli, so considering, come to the conclusion that it is the right time, he should, Upāli, further consider thus: "The conduct of this matter which I intend to take upon myself, is it just, or is it not?" If that Bhikkhu, Upāli, so considering, come to the conclusion that it would not be just, he should not take charge of it.

'(Thirdly.) If that Bhikkhu, Upāli, so considering, come to the conclusion that it would be just, he should, Upāli, further consider thus: "The conduct of this matter which I intend to take upon myself; would it tend to advantage, or would it not?" If that Bhikkhu, Upāli, so considering, come to the conclusion that it would not tend to advantage, he should not, Upāli, take charge of it.

'(Fourthly.) If that Bhikkhu, Upāli, so considering, come to the conclusion that it would tend to profit, he should, Upāli, further consider thus: "While I am taking the conduct of this matter upon myself, shall I find that the Bhikkhus who are my intimates and associates are on my side in accordance with the Dhamma and the Vinaya, or shall I not?" If that Bhikkhu, Upāli, so considering, come to the conclusion that he will not, he should not, Upāli, take charge of it.

(Fifthly.) If that Bhikkhu, Upāli, so considering, come to the conclusion that he will find them so, he should further, Upāli, consider thus: "Whilst I am taking the conduct of this matter upon myself, will the Saṃgha, as a result thereof, fall into strife, quarrel, contention, or dispute, or will there arise a split in the Saṃgha, disunion in the Saṃgha, diversity of position in the Saṃgha, diversity of action in the Saṃgha^[4]?" If that Bhikkhu, Upāli, so considering, come to the conclusion that that will happen, he should not take charge of it. But if that Bhikkhu, Upāli, thus considering, should come to the conclusion that that will not happen, he should take charge of it. The taking charge of a matter, Upāli, subject to these five conditions, will not give cause to subsequent remorse.'

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

No doubt in his rōle of a chief of the Vinaya-dharas, as in Mahāvagga IX, 6, &c.

[2]:

As, for instance, in the last chapter (§§ 4 and following) the Bhikkhu who lays the matter before the Saṃgha.

[3]:

Attādānaṃ ādīyati, in our explanation of which we follow Buddhaghosa.

[4]:

This list has occurred above, Mahāvagga X, 1, 6; X, 5, 13; Cullavagga VII, 5, 1.